A Twisted Heart
by zammierox
Summary: AU Marie Lexington has a choice: Tom Riddle or Rick Evans. That was the reason he went mad: from anger, love, and grief. That was the reason he became Voldemort.


**Full Summary: AU Marie Lexington has a choice: Tom Riddle or Rick Evans. That was the reason he went mad: from anger, love, and grief. That was the reason he became Voldemort.A/N: plz excuse any mishaps with the time period. For the town I was trying to go for a Gilmore Girls / Chatham, MA type feel, but like in the olden days…=)**

**Disclaimer: if you recognize it, I don't own it**

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It was amazing how one choice could have affected so many lives. Especially when the decision-maker had no idea of the impact of her choice. Perhaps it was better that she was not told of her indirect role in the deaths of so many. She would never know, as she herself was a victim of this mass murdering. Few people knew of the early life of _the _Harry Potter's grandmother - nobody simply cared.

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She was 22 and he 23. Marie Lexington had finished her general studies at university and had bought her very own place in the small town of Little Hangleton. Her graduate nursing school was admittedly in the neighboring city but she had fell in love with the quieter, village-y feel of Little Hangleton. It was only a short drive anyway.

A few months later and her studies were doing well, she had made five or so close friends, and she loved her home. The only things that could make her happier would be a boyfriend and a job, though she needed neither.

That is, until she was shopping in the local, family-owned market. Usually she skipped breakfast, ate lunch in the city, and either got take-out or grocery shopped for her dinners there.

Therefore it was understandable when she was frustrated that she could not find any bread. After several minutes of wandering the small store, she gave up and asked the man at the cash-register. He looked surprised but noticed her foreign accent and explained that everyone simply went to the bakery.

Feeling foolish, Marie followed his directions and found herself in a part of the town she had had yet to explore. Before entering she saw a small hand-written sign in the window stating: "Now Hiring". She couldn't believe her luck!

The reason why she had held off on getting a job was that she did not want to make multiple trips into the city each day. Since most of the shops in the town were family-owned she had assumed they would not want or need her.

After making herself presentable, she stepped over the threshold and decided to inquire about the position straight away. A small bell rang and the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching. The smell of fresh bread already pleasantly overwhelming her, Marie thought that she'd much prefer this then say, waitressing in the city.

A throat cleared and she swung around from admiring the bakery. Expecting to see an older man, she was surprised to see one about her age facing her across the counter. He wasn't too bad looking either…

Flustered, Marie internally scolded herself for not being professional. As he clearly wasn't going to speak first, Marie reached her hand across the counter, introduced herself, and stated her reason for being there.

An hour later she exited the bakery with a job and a slight interest a certain young man.

He, Tom Riddle, had shaken her hand and disappeared into the back. Bewildered and unsure of what to do, she had waited and seconds later Tom reappeared with an older man in tow. This was, in fact, Mr. Riddle, the owner and Tom's father. Mr. Riddle had explained that they needed someone to man the cash as his son baked the breads since the previous boy had moved completely into the city.

After all the details had been sorted, Marie had left happy. She only remembered her original reason for why she had sought the bakery after she had reached her home but decided to wait until when she returned for work in two days.

The day came and she was taught the basics on what to do. Work was nice, as she didn't have much to do and was able to chat with Tom. As their friendship grew, so did her relationships with the townspeople.

A month or so later Tom asked Marie out and another month later Marie's second wish of acquiring a boyfriend came true. She was the happiest she had been in years. Life was perfect. But as it always is, nothing perfect can last.

Marie was done with school for the day and had just arrived at a department store. It was her and Tom's two-month anniversary and they were going to celebrate after work. Marie had procrastinated in getting a present but this was her last chance.

As she made her way to the men's department Marie could not help the smile that wormed its way onto her face. She thought back at how drastically her life had changed recently including meeting the best boyfriend she could ask for.

Marie was lost in thought as she flitted between racks and therefore did not register the form right in front of her. Losing balance, she instinctually grabbed onto the closest thing to her. Startled, the man caught on to her elbow and steadied her before exclaiming in surprise. Hearing her name, Marie turned to her stabilizer. Who just happened to be her ex-boyfriend.

A hasty thank-you turned into a long chat until he inquired about her reason as to why she was in the men's department. Marie's eyes widened guiltily as she had forgotten about her job and, most importantly, her boyfriend.

She blurted that she was looking for a present for her father, unsure as to why she lied. He surprised her by recalling that her father's birthday was, in fact, in a couple of weeks.

Suddenly hurried, Marie excused herself after agreeing they should get together soon, grabbed a random tie, and left.

On the drive home Marie thought about the man she had run into. Rick Evans. They had been great friends throughout primary school and in secondary he had asked her out.

They had gone to all the dances together, met each other's parents, and had exchanged I-love-you's. Year 12 had ended along with their relationship. They were both going to different universities and decided against trying to do long-distance. And that was the end.

Maybe that was why she did not mention Tom – in case things did not work out between them. Thinking this, the guilty feeling came back ten-fold. Tom, who had been so wonderful to her…now she wished things had ended badly between her and Rick.

They had only talked for ten minutes but already she felt that suppressed feeling of fondness surging upwards. But she had a boyfriend. An amazing, kind, loving boyfriend. Why – How could she ask for anything more? But Rick was…Rick.

He was simply incredible, she could list thousands of reasons why. With Tom they all seemed to be, well, generic. That was not fair; she had know Rick far longer. And besides she should not be thinking these traitorous thoughts on her and Tom's anniversary of all days. She would simply wait and see.

Marie resolved that she'd force herself to choose after she met up with Rick again. Even if he did not want her back, she would break up with Tom. It was not fair to him if she would leave him as soon as someone better came along.

Two weeks later, Rick and her had finally found a date to meet. Three hours later she had to leave for the bakery but her decision was made. It was as if the four-year gap had never happened as they caught up. Rick hinted at a date but Marie carefully stepped around it – neither accepting nor denying.

As crazy as she sounded, she knew after seeing him again that Tom could never make her feel as much as she did for Rick. She imagined the conversation as she drove to the bakery, already picturing Tom's wounded face.

Her guilt was tremendous but it nearly killed her when she walked into the shop. It was decorated as romantically as a bakery could be and Tom was dressed in a tux with his back to her, facing the counter.

As the bell on the door rang, he turned towards her, took her hands and started to speak. He spoke of how although they had only known each other a short amount of time, they saw each other every day, and he was completely sure he loved her. He spoke of all her qualities and as he got on one knee told her he knew he wasn't the best, but would she please marry him. Only then as he looked up did he see her tear-streaked face but passed it off as ones of happiness.

Shaking, she backed towards the door saying she couldn't; that she was sorry. He was crushed, to say the least. Then he gathered himself up and stuttered out that it was fine; he understood – she wasn't ready.

He said they could move on – he understood. But Marie just kept backing towards the door, shaking her head. Somehow she managed to choke out that it wasn't his fault and that it was over; she was sorry. With one last look at his pained face, she turned and fled out the door.

By the time she reached her apartment she was sobbing. His face kept pooping into her head - a single tear let free as he held the ring. It would have been so much easier if he hadn't proposed, if she never knew he was planning to. But now she knew.

She tried to make her mental image of him angry at her to try and ease her own pain. She distorted his anguished face into a furious one. He was shouting; saying how could she break his heart, how could she _betray _him?

Oh, God. Had it really been this afternoon? This afternoon that she had laughed in a café with Rick. She felt heartless and her Tom's face dropped the angry mask. It did not suit him and she watched, unable to shake the image, as he returned to simple sadness as that single tear fell from his eyes.

She was a zombie for a week but nothing compared to Tom's catatonic state. She couldn't bring herself to face Mr. Riddle let alone Tom, and left her letter of resignation underneath the door. She was a coward. Still she could not do it.

Later she would meet up with Rick and slowly things returned to normality. It was like the first few months all over again except for the pangs in her chest as she thought she saw him in the crowd. Of course she was being silly, as Tom rarely came into the city.

And then there were the times where she or someone said or did something and she would be reminded of him. There were the moments where Rick did something that Tom would know never to do. Granted Rick had been gone for four years of her life but even after one time Tom had stored the information away…

She would wonder, once in a while, if she should have said yes to Tom, if she had made the wrong choice. Then she would turn to see Rick and be flooded with guilt as she banished the doubts.

Once she really did see Tom. She had gone into a little shop off the main street when she had noticed Tom speaking to the elderly owner while delivering bread. Her eyes widened and she fled from him once again.

She would not know that he'd hear her leaving and glimpse her retreating back. He was hit with pain and sadness.

Marie arrived at her apartment breathless, having run the whole way home even after she had been out of sight. It was like a déjà-vu.

She couldn't help but think how sweet Tom was with that simple gesture to that elderly townsperson. Rick would never do that; he was all about profit. She did the now habitual act of waving the traitorous thought away.

However that one sighting was enough and Marie promptly moved out the next day. It wasn't as if she had nowhere to go; she and Rick had spoken about her moving into the city with him – him being more insistent _and _persistent.

Years later, Tom was reduced to a blissful, yet incredibly painful memory. As she stepped into her white dress, she couldn't help but think back. She hoped he had moved on; perhaps he too was getting married, perhaps he already was and had a child along the way. But she had a feeling he didn't, wasn't. She knew in her heart that neither had happened.

Little did she know that she was absolutely correct. Tom had long since taken over the bakery since his father had grown ill. He had never returned the ring. It sat on his nightstand where he could see it every night as he sat in his room, alone.

He would lay on his side just staring at that ring until it became too much and he had too roll over to fall asleep. But Marie did not know this and was already too far gone.

As she made her way down the aisle, she would never experience life with Tom.

She would never know that the night he proposed he was planning on revealing his magic. She would never know how much more he loved her then Rick, how much better they were for each other.

She would never know what it would be like to be Marie Riddle.

And as she said, "I do," she would never know who he was to become.

* * *

Nobody knew exactly why Tom suddenly snapped.

Perhaps he had somehow found out about the reason why Marie had refused. Perhaps his father's death was the last straw. Perhaps he was driven by loneliness.

Perhaps it was when Marie had a child. Perhaps it was that he knew Rick was not faithful; that Marie would have been better with him.

Perhaps they had all contributed to the loss of his sanity. He had finally gone mad from anger, love and grief.

His insane mind started to form a plan. Tom had always been proud of being a pureblood, but was not above intermarriages. However, Tom had deluded himself out of jealousy for Rick and anger at his unfaithfulness into believing that all Muggles were filth.

This idea grew until he had dreamed so big as to wish to eliminate all mudbloods. While Tom had lost all rational thoughts, he had not lost his smarts.

The once innocent, sweet young man was gone and replaced by a cruel, blood-thirsty man by the name of Voldemort. He slowly but surely raised an army of followers who would not hesitate to kill.

By the time he had made a name for himself, Marie's daughter had grown to be eighteen and had had a second who was about sixteen.

He had wanted to murder Rick himself but knew Marie would be able to talk him out of it and that was not an option. Therefore he sent two of his most trusted Death Eaters with specific instructions to kill the man and the children marred by Rick's blood but not the woman.

It was his first fail.

Both daughters had been out and had been spared while Marie perished. Over come with grief, Voldemort doubled his efforts.

In his quest to eliminate all mudbloods, he pushed away the knowledge that both her children were alive. It would be almost another decade before the perfect opportunity to kill the youngest came.

She was the one he hated the most. To look so much like her mother, yet have Rick's blood run in her veins, it was too much.

He killed her. He almost spared her, overcome with a wave of nostalgia, as he actually saw his love's daughter face-to-face. But then he remembered that even though he _should _have been her father, he was not.

Striking her down, he decided to finish the family off and turned towards Marie's grandson, Harry Potter.

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**A/N: R&R please! For anybody who doesn't know, according to wikipedia, elementary through high school years is considered primary and secondary school (didn't want anybody to think they only knew each other through the end of middle school). Is it bad that I don't like my own character? She's so...annoying… Sigh I wrote her as a Marie which I quite liked better but then I figured I should keep up with the flower names so I switched it to Rose but then I thought it just didn't work so I changed it back to Marie =)…I don't know why I just told you that…**


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